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Some significant concepts about the Renal Compensation

As we have seen in different posts, the renal function is vital for human’s living. Through this process, the human body can filter the toxins and different substances from the blood, which cleans it and gives to people what they need to have a good quality living. If the renal system does not work adequately, a renal failure may occur. This problem could be defined in a few words like the impossibility for the body to process the different substances from the blood. A renal failure could be acute or chronic. Let’s see some of the most imperative concepts about this topic and some of its elements.

Acute renal failure

This renal failure is when the human body loses an important blood amount, or if for some reason a particular person ingests a toxic substance, causing the kidneys to fail and eventually to generate renal failures. In other words, an acute renal affectation could be generated by different external situations that change the normal functioning of the human body.

Chronic renal failure

This affectation is generated for some diseases or healthy hereditary problems, causing failures in the renal system. In some occasions, these issues are incurable and may require constant medical intervention, like dialysis or surgeries.

These two concepts are vital to understanding what the Renal Compensation is because they explain in a few words how the renal system works and which are its affectations. Having this clear, we can talk about other important concepts like the respiratory compensation, the respiratory acidosis, the respiratory alkalosis or the Glomerular Filtration Rate. However, it is important to understand firstly what the Renal Compensation is.

The Renal Compensation concept

It could be defined as the process where the kidneys can regulate the acidity in the plasma, that is to say, that through the Renal Compensation, the human body can establish and control the pH in the blood.

When the plasma pH differs from 7.4, the body could suffer acidemia or alkalemia. Acidemia is when the blood acidity is lesser than 7.4, which means lack of acids which must be in the blood. Alkalemia occurs when the plasma pH is higher than 7.4 and means an excess of acid substances in the blood. When some of these problems occur, the human body can suffer respiratory or metabolic problems, and they could happen if there is a lack of Renal Compensation.

The Glomerular Filtration Rate

This concept refers to the filtered fluid volume in time by the human body, from the renal system to the Bowman capsule, which is part of the renal functioning where all the body substances to be excreted are filtered. Through this rate, the correct working of the renal system is measured, in other words, the Glomerular Filtration Rate is used for knowing if the kidneys and other elements from the renal circuit are operating in an adequate way.

Usually, the Glomerular Filtration Rate is measured through different techniques. Some of the most important are the measurement using inulin, the measurement with radioactive tracers, the estimation using the Cockcroft-Gault formula, the MDRD formula or the Starling Leonardo technique. Each one of these methods is developed to know and understand how the level of filtered fluids in the blood by the renal system, is working.

The Glomerular Filtration Rate is measured millimeters per minutes. In men, the adequate rate is 90 ± 14 millimeters per minute, in women is 60 ± 10 millimeters per minute.

Respiratory compensation

It is a medical method to change the blood acidity varying the respiratory rate. Put differently, the Respiratory compensation is a mechanism to alter the breathing way in the human body so the plasma pH can vary, depending on what the person needs.

The normal breathing rates in humans are measured in breaths per minute and are distributed like this:

In children, the normal rates are: from birth to six weeks of living, between 30 to 40 breaths per minute, from 6 months to three years, between 25 to 40 breaths per minute, from three to six years, 20 to 30 breaths per minute, and from six years to ten years, between 17 to 23 breaths per minute.

In adults, the rates are 12 to 18 breaths per minute, older than 65 years, between 12 to 28 breaths per minute, and older than 80 years, 10 to 30 breaths per minute.

We have seen some of the most used and recognized concepts in the Renal compensation process, but there are much more that must be understood to have a fuller picture of this term and its functioning. For example, other important notions about it are the Creatinine clearance, the Kt/V and its standardization, the Renal blood flow, the Ultrafiltration, the Filtration fraction, the PaH clearance, among other elements that are fundamental for the renal system understanding and its renal compensation.